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54 Great Albums Of The 1980s

OK, it’s cards on the table time. Time to ‘address’ the elephant in the room, no more waltzing around it, etc etc…

Regular readers of this site may already have an inkling about my favourite albums of the ’80s, but what the hell – here they are in no particular order (apart from the unimpeachable collection in the #1 spot).

Numbers have been crunched, playlists have been quantified. Only kidding. This is a totally sentimental, unscientific list. And I promise, dear reader, that my original intention was to narrow it down to only ten. But, to quote Hugh Grant: fuggedaboudit…

The rules: only one artist per slot, soundtracks allowed but no best-ofs, and all albums must have a no-skip guarantee. A few things pop out: 1981, 1985 and 1987 strike me as very good years, 1984 and 1986 as pretty barren ones. It wasn’t a great decade for straightahead jazz, soul or funk albums, at least not in my house, though Alexander O’Neal, Janet Jackson, Cameo and Terence Trent D’Arby nearly made the cut. And I wish there were more female artists, though Will Powers (Lynn Goldsmith), Wendy & Lisa, Sheila E, Chaka Khan, Rickie Lee Jones, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Donna Summer, Cocteau Twins, Randy Crawford and Madonna came close.

Let the countdown commence…

54. Bireli Lagrene: Foreign Affairs (1988)

53. Stanley Clarke: Rocks, Pebbles & Sand (1980)

52. Human Chain: Cashin’ In (1988)

51. The Tubes: The Completion Backward Principle (1981)

50. Terje Rypdal: The Singles Collection (1988)

49. The Blue Nile: Walk Across The Rooftops (1983)

48. David Sanborn: Voyeur (1981)

47. Randy Newman: Trouble In Paradise (1983)

46 De La Soul: Three Feet High And Rising (1989)

45. Nile Rodgers: Adventures In The Land Of The Good Groove (1983)

44. John Martyn: Glorious Fool (1981)

43. Gabriel Yared: Betty Blue Original Soundtrack (1987)

42. Mike Stern: Upside Downside (1986)

41. Wayne Shorter: Phantom Navigator (1987)

40. Jeff Beck: There And Back (1980)

39. The Robert Cray Band: Bad Influence (1983)

38. Kate Bush: Hounds Of Love (1985)

37. John Scofield: Still Warm (1985)

36. Steve Khan: Casa Loco (1982)

35. Donald Fagen: The Nightfly (1982)

34. It Bites: Once Around The World (1988)

33. Talking Heads: Speaking In Tongues (1983)

32. Michael Jackson: Thriller (1982)

31. Lyle Mays: Street Dreams (1988)

30. David Sylvian: Gone To Earth (1986)

29. Peter Gabriel: III (1980)

28. Roxy Music: Avalon (1982)

27. Grace Jones: Nightclubbing (1981)

26. Prince: Around The World In A Day (1985)

25. Joni Mitchell: Dog Eat Dog (1985)

24. Mark Isham: Vapor Drawings (1983)

23. David Bowie: Scary Monsters (1980)

22. King Crimson: Discipline (1981)

21. Hue & Cry: Remote (1988)

20. Scritti Politti: Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985)

19. XTC: Skylarking (1985)

18. Prefab Sprout: Steve McQueen (1985)

17. Vladimir Cosma: Diva Original Soundtrack (1982)

16. Lee Ritenour: Rit (1981)

15. Larry Carlton: Friends (1983)

14. Japan: Oil On Canvas (1983)

13. Love And Money: Strange Kind Of Love (1988)

12. Level 42: World Machine (1985)

11. Weather Report: Sportin’ Life (1985)

10. Various Artists: That’s The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute To Thelonious Monk (1984)

Although I have just over half of these (and know very little of some of the artists, let alone particular albums), this made a fascinating read Matt.

Rather surprised, nonetheless, that I only have three of your top ten. This seems odd to me, as I cannot really imagine too many albums that would push “Skylarking” off the podium (and I do mean top three) nor “Gone to earth” out of the top ten. S’pose I better try to listen!